Fall 2014 Volume 5 Issue 3 What’s Inside Third annual Purple Run HomeComing P. 2 Fall Service Trip P.4 2015 Cabinet Election Results P.5 Legacy of Fiji Arohs P. 6 Chi Etas Abroad P.7 Graduate Spotlight P. 8 Mark your calendars! January 26th Beginning of Class for WKU Students By MATT LAWSON (‘15) WKU FIJI recently held the third annual Purple Run as its fall philanthropy to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research. The Purple Run, which took place on October 11 at Kereiakes Park, raised over $5300 dollars for this cause that has affected many brothers and families in the local community. Through the help of many people and organizations, this year’s philanthropy was the most successful one so far apart from the Bike4Alz ride. “The event has grown so much over just three years,” Ryne McMullen, Chi Eta Trea- surer and former Philanthropy Chair, said. “We have found a permanent name, upgraded the paint, and now started making the run seem more and more professionally ran.” The Purple Run is a 5K in which participants have colored powder thrown on them in a colorful, fun, upbeat race. By the end they are a completely different color creating a really unique spectacle to see. Following the race, all the participants take part in a large purple throw while music is blasted from te speakers. It is a great end to a very fun event. This year the Purple Run had 204 ... continued on p.2 1 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. 1 \r\nparticipants including members of the Bowling Green community, family members, and other WKU Greek organizations. “The Purple Run was something that I got to do with a lot of my friends while raising money for a good cause,” Marie Angeles, a participant in this year’s Purple Run, said. “Plus, who doesn’t like getting purple powder thrown at you while running and getting it all on your face?” A new feature of The Purple Run this year was the inclusion of corporate sponsors. Various community businesses including Van Meter Insurance, Houchens Industries, Griff’s Deli, Franklin Bank and Trust, Complete Nutrition, and ChickFil-A. Also, the Chi Eta chapter partnered with WKU Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for a fundraising spaghetti dinner which raised $1000 dollars to be split among each group’s philanthropies. The inclusion of other groups contributed to the success of this semester’s philanthropy immensely. “It was really awesome that three organizations found a way to come together as a group and have some fun while raising even more money,” Haley Doose, Philanthropy Chair for AOII, said. In the end, the thing to be celebrated is the impact that these donations will make in the lives of many families across the United States. Alzheimer’s disease has deprived many members of society the ability to live independently and has become a burden on many families. This money is another step toward research which will find a cure and end Alzheimers. 2 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. \r\nPhi Gams, Chi Omega, and Phi beta Sigma Take on Homecoming 2014 By CHARLIE RHEA (‘15) Many of us call it the best week of the year, and Homecoming 2014 proved to be just that. This year’s Homecoming brought about an exciting week of float building, mixers, late nights, new relationships in our Greek community, and a stronger brotherhood for Chi Eta. This years Homecoming week was certainly one for the books, beginning with the week’s Greek Events. This year, Chi Eta and our pairings, the ladies of Chi Omega and the gentlemen of Phi Beta Sigma, took on the overall theme for the week of “New Tops on the Block” and constructed a football themed float to celebrate WKU’s inaugural season in Conference-USA. Our float designed showcased WKU’s own Feix Field, helmets representing each team in Conference-USA, and a brick wall covered in graffiti. We pomped, and prepared our float throughout the week, leading up to an all-nighter through Thursday night and finally finishing around noon on Friday. The week finished with the annual Homecoming parade which traveled through campus and ended in Fountain Square Park with ‘Big Red’s Roar’. We were proud to show off our hard work to the Bowling Green community and in the end, it all paid off when we placed 2nd in the float competition. With competition aside, our chapter could not have been more pleased with our Homecoming week. We were able to build new relations with both the women of Chi Omega and the gentlemen of Phi Beta Sigma as well as strengthen the bonds within Chi Eta. Chapter President Kyle Stewart extended a complement to our brothers, not only on their hard work through the week, but to their efforts in fostering new relationships within our Greek community. He explained by saying “it was a fantastic week with a great pairing!” With the week’s major Greek events concluded, it was time to get to what Homecoming week is all about, Graduate Brothers and football. Our Graduate Relations Chairman, Taylor Ruby put together a graduate brothers breakfast Saturday morning at the Fifth Street Diner, and followed it with a tailgate with assistance from brother Austin DeMuth. It was a great opportunity for Graduates and Undergraduates to reconnect and enjoy the day. Nu pledge class member Justin Hobbs described his first Homecoming game day as an exciting end to a perfect week. “It’s exciting to meet our Graduates and have so many Chi Etas back on the Hill!” , said Hobbs. In an exciting conclusion to our week, Chi Eta was a part of one more victory. Along with Chi Omega and Phi Beta Sigma, our chapter co-sponsored Ellie Jolly, a member and President of Chi Omega, as our Homecoming Queen candidate. During halftime of the football game, while being escorted by Nu pledge class member McGavinn Brown, Jolly was crowed the 2014 WKU Homecoming Queen. This year marked yet another successful Homecoming in Chi Eta history. Our chapter is already anxious and excited for Homecoming 2015. Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. 3 \r\nChi Eta Chapter Serves Northside Baptist Church and East 10th Street Civic Association By BRADEN PROFFITT (‘16) This fall break, the Chi Eta chapter was able to continue an ongoing tradition of our short existence: the fall break service trip. This year, we ventured a little further north than we have in past years and traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to serve Northside Baptist Church and East 10th Street Civic Association for a few days. We left in carpools scattered throughout the day on Wednesday as soon as we could get out of our classes, and headed to our destination. Our home for the week was the Northside Baptist Church, whose facilities manager was gracious enough to let us stay there for the extended weekend trip at no cost whatsoever. For the first day of service on Thursday, we decided to pay back to the church for letting us stay there for free by giving them free labor for the day. We landscaped around their entire church building, tearing up old shrubs, digging up weeds, and shoveling two dump trucks full of river rock into wheelbarrows and filling in the area around the church with the rock. For our next two days of service on Friday and Saturday, we worked with the East 10th Street Civic Association. This group is an association dedicated to the reformation and improvement of greater Indianapolis. While working for this group, we painted furniture, landscaped at another local church, moved property from an old space to a new location for a local theater group, built signs for a local business, and cleaned up trash along the entire city block. While tons of work was completed, fun was not lacking on this trip. The church was full of equipment for racquetball and basketball courts, and had roller skates, an indoor track and gym, which were utilized nearly anytime we weren’t working. We also took brotherhood trips into the city of Indianapolis and to a local go-kart fun park. “This was the best fall break trip I’ve been on,” said Senior Mason Bramer. Not only did we get to have fun and get the satisfaction of working together, but every brother who came on the trip and participated was rewarded with 15 service hours (which is the amount of hours that must be earned each semester). Altogether, we had approximately 25 brothers go on the trip and every single one of us had a fantastic time serving together. 4 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. \r\n2015 Cabinet Election Results Treasurer Taylor Leigh Corresponding Secretary Taylor Bowling President Andrew Boyles Recording Secretary Braden Proffitt Historian Sean Jacobson Outgoing 2014 Cabinet : Kyle Stewart (President), Ryne Mcmullen (Treasurer), Seth Bland (Recording Secreatary), Wade Weatherholt (Corresponding Secretary), and Evan Pennington (Historian). 5 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. \r\nLike Father like Sons: A Continuing Legacy of Fiji Arohs By SEAN JACOBSON (‘16) It is always a special occasion when multiple generations of the same family share the bond of brotherhood in Fiji. This is certainly the case in the Aroh family. Among the fall Nu pledge class initiated this November, brother Daniel Aroh became the newest Aroh addition to the Chi Eta family, following in the footsteps of his brothers Ben (Class of 2013) and Joseph (Class of 2017). Their father David Aroh, a graduate of the Tau chapter at Hanover College, was present for his youngest son’s initiation at the International Headquarters in Lexington. That same day, David also was sworn in as a graduate affiliate of Chi Eta. Earlier in the semester, the chapter voted to make David Aroh a graduate affiliate because of the tremendous contributions he has made in the fraternity, including building a new deck at the house, installing a transom window with the five values over the front door, and constructing a kitchen bar countertop. His investment with Chi Eta, his heart to serve brothers, and his raising of three outstanding sons in the chapter made his official affiliation into the Chi Eta brotherhood of vital importance. “I was very surprised and honored to be asked to be a graduate affiliate of the Chi Eta Chapter,” David says. “Ever since I have been acquainted with the men of Chi Eta, I have been very impressed with the caliber of young men that Chi Eta has attracted.” For David, who now has all three of his sons as initiated Fiji brothers, this moment is significant. “As far as having all three sons affiliated with Chi Eta, as a father, I couldn’t be more pleased!” Daniel also gives his thoughts, “I saw how Fiji molded my older brothers into the men they are today and I knew it would do the same to me. It only feels right that my dad joined the Chi Eta squad with us because he is the one who taught us the biblical and sound values we have. Fiji just continues to assist and further advance these teachings.” Needless to say, the Aroh men exemplify how Fiji is “not for college days alone.” Graduate brother Ben continues to make a presence in the undergraduate community through his recently started business, Aroh Made, where he designs handcrafted wood products that he sells to brothers and many more in the regional community. You can browse and shop for some of his products by visiting www.arohmade.com. 6 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. \r\nChi Etas Abroad Above and Right: Brother Jacob Hodges ventures around the Europe. Left: Brother Chase Thomas represents WKU Study Abroad and Global Learning while on the Great Wall of China. 7 Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. \r\nGraduate Spotlight : Jordan Minton By TONY PIEDMONTE (‘17) This Fall’s Graduate Brother Spotlight, Jordan Minton, graduated from WKU in 2012 with a degree in Marketing and Sales and is currently working as a singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. Minton’s ability to merge his education and passion into a career is to be admired and followed. Starting in high school with his school’s worship group, Minton’s passion for performing followed him into college. After discovering several inspiration singer songwriters, Minton began to create his own music and discover his own sound. While in undergrad, Minton played his first show in a coffee shop in Lexington, Kentucky. In his senior year at WKU, approaching graduation, Minton decided to pursue his passion as career. “A huge reason I had the confidence to pursue music is just being around [FIJI] and having the encouragement of the guys,” said Minton. Writing over 40 songs in the last year, Minton has been playing shows every month in Nashville, Louisville, and of course, Bowling Green. Using his marketing background, Minton has been networking, developing his brand, and growing his fan bases at every stop on the road. In the next year Minton expects to start traveling short tours throughout the United States with other performers. Minton’s advice to undergraduates, “Its never too early to start... I wish I would have started way sooner,” said Minton. “ You have so much freedom and time in college that you can spend mastering a craft.” Minton is a great example to the Phi Gamma Delta community. Working everyday doing what he loves and using his job to develop his happiness, relationships, and faith, is the true definition of chasing a dream. Keep up the good work Jordan! Fall 2014 Graduates Mason Bramer Religious Studies Robert Lucas English Cody Hutchins International Business Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. 8 \r\nGraduate News Jordan Kassel (’14) engaged to Grace Julien on November 29th. Austin Wenger (’13) accepted a position as Subrogation Analyst for The Rawlings Group. Chris Kinney (’13) accepted a position at Graybar Electric in Outside Sales. Ryan Demuth (‘13) engaged to Carly Atkins on November 8th. Zack Ryle (‘12) accepted a position as the Assistant Director of Admissions and Public Relations for the Gatton Academy at WKU. Eric Hughes (’12) accepted a position at Hospital Corporation of America in Brentwood, TN. Blaine Routt (‘11) is getting married to Amber Nicole Goodlett on December, 26th, they will be moving to Hawaii together where Blaine currently lives. Christopher and Nikki Drury (’10) married on November 7th. Ray Blankenship (’10) accepted a promotion to Department Chair for the Information Systems department in the college of business at WKU. Have any graduate news? Send an email to graduate@wkufiji.com! Chi Eta By the Numbers 73 Initiated Brothers 1 Pledge Brother 83 Graduate Brothers 2 Brothers Abroad 2008 Chi Eta founded at WKU Tyler Jury Young Alumni of the Year Congratulations Tyler from all the Chi Eta Brothers! Learn about the WKU Excellence Fund and how you can support Chi Eta at www.wkufiji.com/donate Current Supporters Bob Anderegg (USC `71, WKU GA `10) Jeff Baynham (WKU `10) Ray Blankenship (Kentucky `84, WKU GA `10) Brandon Bowman (WKU `10) Dr. Craig Cobane (WKU Faculty `10) George and Jane Pennington (Parents) Blaine Routt (WKU `11) Josh Wiseman (WKU `12) Brad Stephens (WKU’13) Friendship. Knowledge. Service. Morality. Excellence. 9